The Padawan Who Hid

Chapter 7: Infiltration

We reach the base at dusk. Ahsoka and I take two of Kenobi's men, one of Skywalker's, a bag of detonators for the both of us, and sneak past the droids on patrol. I quickly identify where the air shaft is.

The three clones station themselves below the air shaft. Ahsoka and I check out bags of detonators and hop inside.

The vents are narrow, but Ahsoka and I are both small enough to crawl through. We leave a trail of detonators as we go: Ahsoka attaches them to the top of the vents and I attach them to the bottom.

I keep track of the turns we take and I stop Ahsoka when we reach a certain grate. We silently remove the grate and slip into the room.

The battle droids are chattering about nonsense: who's the better model and who's the smartest and who's the fastest, even though they're all B1s.

Simultaneously, Ahsoka and I ignite our lightsabers. Hers are green and mine is silvery-white. The colours light up the room.

One of the battle droids lets out a robotic trill of, "Oh no."

Before any of the droids can fire a shot, Ahsoka and I twirl our lightsabers through the room. It takes us less than two minutes to disable all the droids.

I download the information while Ahsoka sets more detonators around the room. When we finish, we slip silently back into the vents and continue our trek.

Ahsoka stops suddenly. I nearly crash into her. "What's wrong?"

"We should get out here and set some charges." Ahsoka points through the grate we've reached. I squint and see three large fuel tanks. If we set charges on those, they'll make a really big explosion.

I hesitate. "That wasn't part of the plan."

"So?"

I give Ahsoka a startled look.

"My master and I do it all the time. Plans are more like guidelines; sometimes, you have to imporovise or change it up for a better result," Ahsoka explains wisely.

I ponder what she says briefly. I really wish I have a master like hers. My master would punish me if I even looked like I wanted to change the plan. I inhale deeply and puff out a slow breath. "Okay, let's do it."

We remove the grate and jump out, scattering detonators over the fuel tanks and around the room. As we're about to jump back into the vents, Ahsoka freezes. The Force sends me a stab of a warning and I hear what Ahsoka hears.

Simultaneously, we whirl around, striking defensive positions. I grip my lightsaber tightly in my left hand. Someone's coming. Someone who has the Force.

A dark, cloaked figure slowly steps into the doorway. He reeks of the Darkside, but he is neither Count Dooku nor anyone I've encountered before. And the way Ahsoka responds, I doubt she's seen him, either.

"Greetings, younglings." He flips off his hood, revealing himself, a human. He looks like he's in his early or mid-twenties. He has pointy ears, high cheekbones, a large forehead, light brown hair, and a square face.

Ahsoka and I glare daggers and say nothing.

"So the Jedi have sent children to toy with me? Pathetic. But I do pity you for being kidnapped and forced into being Jedi. I'll give you both a quick and painless death," he says. "Or you could surrender yourselves now. You may as well, you don't stand a chance against me." He throws his arms and shoulders back, flinging his cloak onto the floor.

My eyes dart up and down him. I observe every part of his stance and the way he moves. I'm totalling him out. He grabs his lightsaber off his belt and strikes his stance, igniting his blade. The way he stands and moves from those little movements can tell a lot about someone. It takes practice and concentration to know what it means, but I'm an Echani and warrior skills such as that have been engraved in my mind ever since I could see.

"I give you one last chance," he says. "Surrender, or die." How cocky.

"Never," Ahsoka growls out from deep in her throat.

"Then I want you to know that you've been mercifully defeated by me, Darth Hamenath," he says.

I watch Darth Hamenath advance on us as if he's in slow motion. His weight shifts, his muscles tense, and he swings forward. Ahsoka springs forward, blocking his blow.

I leap into the action, kicking his legs out from under him. He kicks up and I dodge his next blow. Ahsoka locks blades with him again. I swing in, disrupting the pause.

We go back and forth with our duelling for an intense few minutes. I match all his attempted blows and prevent any fatal strikes by predicting his actions.

He knocks Ahsoka's lightsabers out of her hands and kicks her to the floor. He moves to plunge his lightsaber through her chest but I move faster. I block his lightsaber half a metre from her. He pushes against me with enough strength to make my arms shake.

As Ahsoka rolls out from underneath and reaches for her lightsaber, it suddenly clatters out from her reach. It flies straight into Hameneth's hand, ignites, and swings towards me. I spin away, but it grazes my arm, rips my cloak, and burns my skin.

I yelp and swing feverishly back at him, driving Ahsoka's lightsaber out of his hands. Ahsoka catches it and together, we drive him across the room. The grin on his face tells me that he has something else planned.

Hameneth presses against the wall and then uses the Force to shove us back. I tumble back a bit but regain my balance quickly. Ahsoka stays solidly on her feet.

Together, we charge him. He blocks my swing and pushes Ahsoka back. I'm about to move when out of the corner of my eye, I watch Ahsoka's lightsabers clatter to the floor and her hands reach up to claw at her throat. Hamenath has his hand reached out and curved. He's chocking her with the Force.

I twirl around and force more of his attention onto me as I rapidly make blow after blow. He shoves me back to get a short break and shifts over to end Ahsoka. That's his mistake.

I spring forward with great speed and plunge my lightsaber through his back and it comes out through his chest. Ahsoka falls to the floor and lays still, unconscious from the lack of air. I tremble aggressively and my chest and throat are unbearably tight. I swallow hard, rushing to Ahsoka.

"A-Ahsoka," I squeak out, even my voice trembling.

Ahsoka's eyes flutter open and she draws in a deep breath. She coughs, sighs, and sucks in another deep breath. Then I help her sit up.

"You okay?" I ask.

Ahsoka nods and offers a small smile. "It feels really good to breathe again. You?"

"Fine."

"What happened to our new, ah, friend," Ahsoka asks, her voice grim with the last words.

"I...I-I killed him," I admit, letting out a strangled sound through the tightness of my chest. It's a stifled sob. "I killed that man without a second thought."

Ahsoka looks over at the pile of the dead man. "Oh, Birdie, you did the right thing. If you didn't do that, he would've killed me."

"He was so young. I took the rest of his life away," I say, another strangled sob escaping me. "What if he had a family... or friends? And now they have to find him dead on the floor."

Ahsoka scooches closer to me and shifts her weight, lifting her arms as if she's about to wrap them around me. I shrink away and she quickly recoils. Instead, she takes my hands, still covered with my cloak sleeves, in her and squeezes them.

And for the first time in what feels like forever, I cry in front of someone other than myself.